BUGS & INSECTS Magazine

[Kymba]

I saw and brought the Real Life Bugs and Insects magazine today and subscribed to it as well
I think it is a must either for yourself or Children.. It covers 5 continents

[stirling]

Very interesting site kymba,thanks.
Best from mike.

[Kymba]

I have spent the last Hour reading the magazine, it is well written, clear, well explained and informative (especially for children to understand) The scorpian you get free is great for getting a close up look at it. I look forward to the next issue

[LauraJ1982]

Hello Kymba, I certainly like the look of this magazine and intend to buy it but won't be able to do so for the next few days. Can you please tell me when the next issue is due out as I really don't want to miss the first one!

Thanks.

[matt_xyz]

we're not all quite so keen on the idea of a real insect being given away in each issue. See the following thread

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/fo...ain-about.html

[LauraJ1982]

Thank you for the link Matt. I read the thread with interest. I am opposed to animal cruelty but am for education, so it is a tough one. It never occurred to me that these animals may be treated cruelly just to become a free gift with a magazine.

I am a new member and am not sure whether to expect a torrent of abuse for showing my interest in this magazine now.

Do the same people that are opposed to buying this magazine also choose not to holiday in Greece and Spain and other such tourist destinations where animal cruelty and disrespect is beyond belief, or do they choose not to buy chicken/meat/fish from the supermarket to demonstrate against chicken/meat/fish farms? It's a very difficult area to have morals on and perhaps there are more pressing issues of animal cruelty to focus on in and around the world? Just a thought....?

[matt_xyz]

Originally Posted by LauraJ1982

Do the same people that are opposed to buying this magazine also choose not to holiday in Greece and Spain and other such tourist destinations where animal cruelty and disrespect is beyond belief, or do they choose not to buy chicken/meat/fish from the supermarket to demonstrate against chicken/meat/fish farms? It's a very difficult area to have morals on and perhaps there are more pressing issues of animal cruelty to focus on in and around the world? Just a thought....?

there are always more important issues to worry about, does that mean we should ignore the lesser problems? You could argue that it's important to nip these in the bud before they become bigger problems.

I think many of us thought (and hoped) that collecting insects had died out in Victorian times - it's certainly not something I would want to encourage children to do in the 21st century.

Matt

[LauraJ1982]

That's interesting, as a volunteer at a Butterfly Farm, I am encouraged when I see eagle-eyed children spot a beautiful, albeit dead, butterfly on the ground, pick it up ever so delicately as if it were the finest bone China in the world, and ask if they can keep it. I imagine it keeps them quiet for hours back home whilst they give it a much closer inspection than they could ever hope to achieve with a live butterfly. Having said that, I've never had to tell any children off for deliberately trying to swat the butterflies!

Additionally, I was on a wildlife holiday with a group led by a well-known British conservationist last year and he encouraged his daughter whole-heartedly to keep a scrapbook of her travels, which she excitedly brought out to show me one day. I must say I did get a bit of a shock to find exotic dead bug species cellotaped to some of the pages!

[Paul mabbott]

You raise a couple of good points. I would be an absolute hypocrite to say that I don't kill insects for ecological research or when they become a nuisance (overwhelmed with fruitflies at the moment ) - I do.

However, I do worry when insects are killed as freebies for a magazine. I assume that the magazine is printed for profit rather than as an educational service. I feel that these giveaways are suggesting that insects are like flowers - something for decoration and mild stimulation. Would a magazine series on vertebrates give away stuffed cats, bats, freeze-dried frogs? I suspect not, therefore this mag is saying it's okay to kill invertebrates without thought ...

We should also ask the provenance of these invertebrates - are some 'third-world' countries being stripped of their invertebrate fauna?

Finally, is this rag really called 'Bugs & Insects'? Really bad start - bugs are insects

PS: I, as you will gather, am generally against gratuitous killing of invertebrates (or vertebrates for that matter) but you and others mentioned children examining naturally dead insects. Great and insects that die naturally are a very interesting source of material - hope you'll look out for them and encourage other people to do the same!

Originally Posted by LauraJ1982

That's interesting, as a volunteer at a Butterfly Farm, I am encouraged when I see eagle-eyed children spot a beautiful, albeit dead, butterfly on the ground, pick it up ever so delicately as if it were the finest bone China in the world, and ask if they can keep it. I imagine it keeps them quiet for hours back home whilst they give it a much closer inspection than they could ever hope to achieve with a live butterfly. Having said that, I've never had to tell any children off for deliberately trying to swat the butterflies!

Additionally, I was on a wildlife holiday with a group led by a well-known British conservationist last year and he encouraged his daughter whole-heartedly to keep a scrapbook of her travels, which she excitedly brought out to show me one day. I must say I did get a bit of a shock to find exotic dead bug species cellotaped to some of the pages!

[jordanno]

i want this magazine to expensive though the next issiuses are £5 or somithing and our newsagents gone and now it going to be a hair salon